Hot-handed Tansey helps Tigers cruise past Chi
NEWTOWN SQUARE » Mike Tansey knew that the District 1 Class 5A first-round game against Chichester could be his last at Marple Newtown.
The senior guard played like someone determined to make sure that wouldn’t happen Saturday night.
Tansey scored 27 points, was 8-for-9 from the field and made all four of his looks from
3-point range, staking Marple to a 56-39 win over No. 10 Chichester.
Marple Newtown, the seventh seed in District 1, advances to Tuesday’s quarterfinal at No. 2 Chester.
At halftime, Tansey had 16 points. Chichester only had 13. His ability to hit long-range shots frustrated Chi’s aggressive, half-court trap that sought to run the Tigers off their usual perimeter spots.
“It felt really good,” Tansey said. “My teammates had confidence in me like they always do. They were finding me with the ball. We kept moving the ball and it kept find its way to my hands and we got the win as a team.”
Marple Newtown (11-7) went 6-for-12 from
3-point range in the first half, Ryan Straub supplying the other two makes. That turned out to be enough, as Chi struggled to hit jump shots in what is a notoriously difficult gym to shoot in for visitors.
All of Tansey’s 3s were within the flow of the Tigers’ usual ball-moving splendor, which netted 10 assists on 17 made baskets. Once the jump shots splashed home and Chi adjusted, driving lanes opened for Tansey and Eric McKee to get to the basket.
“We noticed as we were shooting the ball, they were coming up a lot more and that opened the driving lanes,” McKee said. “Even if they collapse, we can always kick back out.”
“We’ve just got to close out,” Chichester senior guard Ramir McDowell said. “It’s hard to pressure them. That’s a good team. We’ve got to get rebounds, too. We were struggling on rebounds the whole game.”
McKee was held to two points in the first half but finished with 14, including seven in the third quarter to hold off a Chi charge. Straub added six points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists. Owen Mathes paired five points with eight boards, part of a 28-18 rebounding edge.
The Eagles (9-8) made a run in the third. Despite their two leading scorers this season, Maz Sayed and 1,000-point scorer Josh Hankins, held to a combined seven points on 3-for13 shooting, someone had to step up. That was McDowell, who scored all eight of his points in the third. He also dished twice to forward Isaiah Diggs, who scored eight of his team-high 12 points in the third to draw Chi as close as six.
“We were down 15 points, so I just tried to do everything, help us come back,” McDowell said. “They stepped up on me so I dished it off to Isaiah a couple of times and he made some layups.”
McKee hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter, and a basket by Ousmane Fofana set up by McDowell got Chi within single-digits at 43-34. But the Tigers weathered the press by elongating possessions and draining the clock without mistakes.
For McDowell, it’s a painful ending to a career of unquestioned growth, the Eagles
making the playoffs three of the four seasons that Clyde Jones has been in charge.
“The young guys have got us,” McDowell said. “They’re going to come back next year and ball.”
Tansey’s quest to not have his season end continues for at least one more outing.
“I was telling some of my teammates before the game, we did not want this to be our last game,” Tansey said. “We want to keep playing as long as we can as a team. We don’t want this year to end because we know we’re something special.”
HAVERFORD » Haverford used a second-quarter burst to earn a 56-44 win over Kennett in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A girls basketball tournament Saturday.
The 13th-seeded Fords (105) held No. 20 Kennett scoreless for the first five minutes of the period and limited the visitors to one field goal in the quarter. With its second-quarter burst, Haverford led, 29-15, at halftime.
“I think our intensity level picked up in the second quarter,” Haverford’s Caroline Dotsey said. “I felt like, personally, I was on my toes ready to go.
“I felt like we were able to communicate as a team (defensively), knowing when to switch, knowing when to stay with our girl. I think we were able to jump to the gaps. I know that if I mess up on something, my team’s right there behind me, ready to pick it up.”
In the second quarter, Dotsey tallied four field goals, mostly from underneath. She finished with 22 points but her interior defense and rebounding was key for the Fords.
“I think rebounding was big for us today – getting under the basket, knowing where to be, and where the ball’s going to go after a shot,” Dotsey said. “I felt like we were able to really move the ball well as a team, finding the open gaps and open spaces. We worked together really well.”
Another key force underneath was 6-foot sophomore Mollie Carpenter, who added solid rebounding and scoring
(10 points).
“I think we got some second opportunities and putbacks today, and that’s what both of them do well,” Haverford coach
Lauren Pellicane said of Dotsey and Carpenter. “We talked about how you can make a living with offensive rebounds, putbacks and getting yourself to the foul line. The two of them play well together and we have a bright future with them.”
The Fords advance to the next round of the District 1 Class 6A tournament, and will visit No. 4 seed Upper Dublin Wednesday.
Although Kennett (5-5) got no closer than 10 points in the second half Saturday, the offense picked up in the third quarter, as the Blue Demons connected on four treys, two from senior Ellie Matthews (who had a game-high
23 points), and one each from freshmen Greta Burns and Mary Carroll. Kennett wound up tallying eight 3-pointers. Mikayla Kelly added 10 points for the Blue Demons.
Haverford, meanwile, received 10 points from junior guard Emma Rowland. It was a timely contribution. One one week ago the Fords lost junior point guard Maddie Williams for the rest of the season with a broken bone in her foot.
“We’ve pretty much gone to point guard by committee since then,” said Pellicane. “We’ve had a couple of our seniors handle the ball. We’ve had Emma Rowland, who had a nice offensive game today and gave us a boost, and Sky Newman, who comes off the bench.”